| None Dare Call It Treason |
| A review of John Stormer's
book by Carrie Hurd |
Note: Carrie
wrote this review for our local homeschool support group's April, 2001 newsletter.
As we have shared in past newsletters, we love to haunt any place that sells books. I
recently picked up a book at the local food bank garage sale whose author looked familiar.
With a quick read of the back cover the little old paperback went into my bag. It wasn't
until a few weeks later that my oldest daughter, Lindsey, came to me saying, "Mom,
have you read any of this book yet? You've got to read this, it is fascinating."
Again, a few days later she came to me and said "Mom, at least read this chapter on
education." Thus was my introduction to one of the most intriguing books I have read
in some time.
The book, None Dare Call It Treason, by John A. Stormer was written in 1964 and
sold over a million copies in just 6 months. It is a very readable compilation of facts
from hundreds of Congressional investigations of communism and books written at that time
on communism and socialism. I don't remember learning much about communism in high school
or college, and never learned about the communist takeovers of Poland, Rumania, China,
Korea and Cuba. This book defines and exposes communism from the 1940's - 1960's and also
the part many in our government played in supporting the Communists -- fascinating!
This book is a must read for us as homeschoolers, if for no other reason than the chapter
on education. Stormer presents an excellent history of John Dewey and other education
reformers and their communist influence on the American education system. This book reads
a bit like present day conspiracy theory book, but it was written 40 years ago, and the
things he wrote about have happened and are present realities that we see all around us.
Some of the other topics included in this chapter are: Textbook Revisions, Class Hatred
(multiculturalism), Anti-Free Enterprise (look at Bill Gates), In the Lower Grades (the
intentional erosion of academic achievement) and Internationalism (vs. patriotism).
I guess the most amazing and shocking revelation for me was the full understanding of the
enslavement and murder of 600 million people under Lenin and Stalin. Add to this the
millions who are still enslaved in communist China. We should think of these men and women
in China, who today are being forced to abort their children and who are mutilated and
killed if they dare go against the communist government and have more than one child.
Communism is not dead. We and our children need to understand it and remember that it
still very much exists today.
In the middle of reading None Dare Call It Treason, I providentially began reading The
Pastor's Wife by Sabina Wurmbrand. I didn't even think about it being related to the
Stormer book until I was half way through it (I could not put it down, I was worthless for
almost an entire day). In 1949, when Soviet propaganda was asserting that free Christian
worship was being tolerated behind the Iron Curtain, the communists arrested Pastor
Richard Wurmbrand in Rumania for secret Christian activities. He was in prison for 14
years and Sabina, his wife was imprisoned and enslaved in different work camps for over 3
years. Pastor and Mrs. Wurmbrand lived and wrote, first-hand of the horrors of communism
that John Stormer was writing about to enlighten the American people in his book. What
these saints went through at the hands of the communists is unimaginable. They faithfully
worked to build the church in spite of persecution. They only left Rumania when they were
made aware that the churches outside the Iron Curtain had no idea what the communists were
doing to people, specifically Christians. They testified in the early 60's in some of the
congressional hearings that Stormer sited in his book.
If you are not familiar with The Voice of the Martyrs, you should be. It was
established by Richard Wurmbrand to help persecuted Christians all over the world. Mr.
Wurmbrand also wrote a book entitled Tortured for Christ and was active in his ministry
until his recent death. The Wurmbrand books can be reasonably purchased from The Voice of
the Martyers, PO Box 443, Bartlesville, OK 74005. (There are some passages in The Pastor's
Wife that frankly discusses sexual matters, so I would not give this book to any of my
children before reading it myself. I don't recommend it for anyone under at least 16.)
I think communism would be an excellent unit study for any of our older homeschool
children. I have found two other excellent resources that should be great to include.
Veritas Press offers One Day In the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander
Solzhenitsyn in its 9th grade curriculum. My two older daughters have both read and
enjoyed this book (I plan to read it soon). Here is a quote from the back of the book:
"This extraordinary novel is one of the most significant and outspoken literary
documents ever to come out of Soviet Russia. It is both a brutally graphic picture of life
in a Stalinist work camp and a moving tribute to man's will to prevail over relentless
dehumanization. A masterpiece of modern Russian fiction." Veritas offers a $15
hardback, you should be able to find a soft back at Half Price Books for just a few
dollars.
In the early 90's TBN produced the movie China Cry, which was the true story of
Nora Lam. Set in China some thirty years before the bloody Tiananmen Square massacre, this
movie portrays the harsh reality of the repressive communist regime and Nora Lam's
indomitable will to survive. You should be able to get this at Blockbuster.
I understand from Rick and Lynette Driggers that there is an excellent video on communism
narrated by Ronald Reagan. Sorry, I was unable to get more information from them before
this had to be submitted. It should be well worth searching for.
It appears that None Dare Call It Treason is out of print. Zshops at Amazon.com
show to have 39 copies for as little as $2.00 for a hardcover. John Stormer has more
recently written None Dare Call It Education: What's Happening to Our Schools & Our
Children? My good friend Michelle tells me that another of his books, Growing Up
God's Way is her all-time favorite child-training book, especially recommending his
chapter on Character. Both are currently available at Amazon.
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